Island Bonding
by Little Agr0n
Summary: Mr Schue wants the glee club to bond to better their chances in getting to nationals next year. So he sends them to live on an island together for three weeks. The glee club must work hard to survive and help each other through the struggle. *DISCONTINUED*
1. The Revelation and Days One and Two

**heyyyy :) here's the first chapter of a possible desert island glee fic (inspired by bear gryll's the island). if you like it, i'll carry it on, but if not, i'll leave it be :)**

* * *

"I have some exciting news, guys." Mr Schuester clapped his hands together with a grin.

His class rolled their eyes. Their teacher's 'good' ideas, which were normally brought to the light of the glee club as 'exciting news', tended to end terribly. They were sure that this would be no different.

"You're all going on a bonding month!" The teacher paused, to see the reaction of his pupils.

Silence.

For the most part. There was a quiet "wanky" murmured by Santana that caused a ripple of giggles around the room. But that was it.

As glee club captain, Rachel took it upon herself to speak up for the group. They needed to know a bit more than that they were going on a 'bonding month'. "Bonding activities would be incredibly beneficial to the team. But what is it that could last a month? Surely we could just go on a weekend to a camp. We can't afford to miss that much learning time."

Mr Schuester nodded in understanding. "It's not quite a month. Just three weeks. But even then, we wouldn't want to affect your education like that. It'll be during summer. And before any of you try to opt out, it has already been discussed, planned and paid for by your parents. So all of you _will_ be going. Except Artie, that is." He shot an apologetic look towards Artie, as though he felt guilty for his student not being able to go. "No offense, Artie, but that did open up the options of what we could do."

Artie threw his hands up. "None taken." He was annoyed that he couldn't go with his friends. But he understood that his chair meant some limitations and he wouldn't want them to affect his friends _as well_ as him. Now he was just curious as to what Mr Schuester had planned. Maybe he'd be glad that he couldn't go, anyway.

"So, as I was explaining," Started Mr Schuester. His tone had switched to one that was more excited again. "That allowed me to switch the trip from a camp-based activity week to something that'll really force you to work together."

"This is all well and good, Mr Schue." Mercedes spoke up. "But what _are_ we doing?"

"You're going to a desert island!" He grinned. His students almost expected him to whip out some jazz hands.

Artie was definitely pleased he couldn't go.

"Oh hell no." Mercedes objected, kickstarting outbursts from several other students.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me." Santana groaned.

"I'm not doing this." Kurt stated, ready to bolt out of the room.

"This is a joke, right?" Puck asked, a little fear creeping into his voice.

Everyone else's jaws just dropped.

"It's okay, guys!" The teacher tried to reassure his students. "An expert has made sure that the island has enough water and plants and animals to let you survive for several months. So you'll be fine for the three weeks that you're there."

Rachel opposed the plan immediately. "Some of us in the group have religious and moral restrictions which prevent us from eating some or all of the animals that may be living there."

Mr Schuester faltered for a moment. He hadn't really thought about that. "I'll have to check with the expert but I'm sure there will be plenty of coconuts and fruit and vegetables to keep you going."

"And how do you suppose a group of clueless teenagers will manage to survive in the wild?" Quinn criticised, surprising a few members of the group. She rarely spoke. However it _was_ a negative comment so perhaps it wasn't all that surprising.

"You'll have a weekend of survival training a week before you go." Mr Schue had this planned way more intricately than the group had initially thought. There was still the odd blip in his planning but they hadn't expected any better. Unfortunately, it looked like there was no way to get out of this mess. "Any plans?" The teacher asked.

He was met with a sea of shaking hands.

"On with the lesson, then."

* * *

Two weeks later and the glee club (minus Artie) were ready, but not quite raring, to go.

They'd had the survival training the weekend before. It began with a burly stern man giving them a huge reality check. None of their trip was going to be easy. There would be extreme highs and lows. However, the most important thing was that everything could go dangerously wrong in a matter of seconds. Everyone needed to have their A-Game on at all times. If things did get too bad, they had a radio to contact a medical team. But that was only to be used for emergencies.

Following that came a time to learn to identify the plants and animals that they could and couldn't eat. That took up the majority of the Saturday. It was looked over again on the Sunday. Their evening was spent learning how to start a fire from a bow and kindling. It was a vital part of their survival and no-one was allowed to leave for dinner until everyone had managed to do it. Oddly, it was Puck who took the longest to get the hang of it.

On the Sunday, they recapped the important triple of survival. _Three minutes without air. Three days without water. Three weeks without food._ Then they set to work learning three different knots each. That way they would have sufficient to do whatever they wanted on the island. The next was a long session in first aid. Just before they left, they were each given a test on the weekend's activities. All of them passed with flying colours, making it certain that they would be alright and (theoretically) safe on the island. Everyone went home with a folder full of everything they had learnt, with the instruction to revise the material several times a day. And most of them did just that. Those with sense did so, not wanting to be the weakest link of the group, but most of all not wanting to die.

Now, everyone was on the boat. They were sat on benches opposite one another on the sides. Several hours ago they had bid a short farewell to to their parents and siblings. The same stern man who taught them the weekend prior, was stood at the bow of the boat to give them the once over. "We have given you the essentials. Your two radios to contacts us in emergencies, a whistle each, two tarpaulin sheets, sufficient sunblock, a metre of string, five fishing hooks, three machetes and two jerry cans. You have the clothes you're wearing as well as a few spare sets of underwear and waterproofs in your rucksacks. Ladies, you also have sanitary products. The most important thing is to stay as hydrated as possible. Are we clear?!" He barked the question at the kids in the boat.

They all nodded fervently back in answer. No-one made eye-contact with each other. If they did, this would all somehow feel more real. Each person seemed to be coping in their own way. Rachel was distracting herself by quietly humming a made up tune. Finn was next to her, putting his nervous energy into tapping a silent beat with his heels. Puck was next to him and just stared into the distance, his jaw clenched shut and arms crossed. Santana and Brittany busied themselves by playing with each other's hands. Quinn was at the end and had taken her glasses off to fiddle with. Contacts were easier for her at home but not on a trip like this. Here, glasses were far more practical. Up at the top of the boat opposite Rachel, Kurt was sat, mindlessly picking the hem of his shorts. Mercedes had closed her eyes and was trying to ignore the movements of the boat over the waves, attempting to ward away her sea sickness. The last thing she needed was to throw up. She needed to keep in all the food she could. Who knew when her next meal would be. Next to her, Tina was playing a small game with Mike where she put her fingertips on his thigh and she had to move her hand away before he caught it with his own. Then there was Sam. He ran his hand through his newly cut hair several times a minute.

The engine cut out.

Heads jerked up. Were they there? No. The closest island was about two hundred metres away. Had they run out of fuel? Unlikely. The stern man looked unconcerned so the probability of the engine failing was pretty close to zero.

"We're here." He bellowed. "This is as close to the island as we can get without the boat getting cut up by rocks. Good luck." And with that, he threw off their bags and jerry cans and gestured for them to follow. It appeared that they could only get there by swimming.

Puck was the first to jump off. He was then followed by Sam. After him, everyone else took the leap from the side closest to the island. Rachel called from where she was treading water. "Everyone get your bags. Sam, Noah?" She waited until they'd called that they were paying attention before continuing. "As the strongest swimmers, could you also take the jerry cans?" They agreed. "Let's swim to land, then."

Surprisingly, everyone kept to the pace of the slowest person. Finn seemed to be putting in twice as much effort as everyone else but was only getting half as far.

"Everyone go on ahead!" Quinn shouted. "I'll help Finn. Don't waste your energy this early on by going slowly. We'll catch you up!" Then she turned to Finn, the two of them treading water. "Hand me your bag."

"But I can manage on my own." He protested.

"Clearly. That's why you're so far behind everyone else. Give it to me now." She demanded.

Finn looked hopelessly over to Rachel. She had broken up with him as summer break had begun. His plan was to impress her while they were on the island so that he could win her back. "But-"

"Finn. Give me. The bag." Quinn forced out with gritted teeth. "You won't get the dwarf back if you can't get to the island to start with."

He begrudgingly passed it over and they made it to shore just a few short moments after their friends.

When the pair reached them, plans were being made. Mainly by Rachel. Everyone else just nodded along. "If we don't come across a sandy beach to stay at within two hours, we will make a temporary camp in a clearing."

Quinn took the moment to look at where they'd landed. It was a rocky shore with a six foot muddy cliff to get up. She had no doubt that the sea would reach the top at high tide. They needed to get into the wooded land as soon as possible. They could talk as they walked. This was wasting vital time before sunset. At her feet, she'd found some washed up string. That would be useful later. But that was all their landing point would be good for. They really couldn't stay much longer. Just as she was getting _really_ ansty, they finally set off.

Their first steps (after lifting each other over the small cliff) were taken gingerly. Rachel led the way and took the easiest route. Mercedes and Kurt brought up the rear. They all walked in twos or even threes where they could, but they thinned down to single file as the forest got more dense.

"What do you think we should do today, Rach?" Finn asked, short of breath. He'd just made it to the front after ten minutes of trying to get there. Sweat was dripping down the sides of his face.

Rachel rolled her eyes. _Had he not listened to anything she'd said before they set off?_ Rachel, though frustrated with Finn not listening, kept her tone friendly. She knew that he was planning to get back with her. It wasn't hard to tell. Finn was hardly subtle. He had sent her some flowers before they left. That wasn't something that he'd do in a platonic relationship. Of course, he'd tried to cover his tracks by sending them anonymously. But the almost illegible note that came with them was undoubtedly his writing. Rachel had also heard Quinn talking about it with Santana and Brittany. Then Santana with Puck. And then Puck with Finn. So this definitely wasn't something she'd made up in her head. But she had broken up with him and she definitely didn't want to get back with him. So she planned to try to put him off as much as she could. However, it was difficult on the island. Everyone needed to stick together and have as little drama and as few fall outs as possible. So she had to be cordial throughout conversation. "I can't see or hear the sea. And the trees are only getting thicker. I say we stop at the next open-ish space and see if everyone is agreeable to staying there for the night."

"That sounds like a great plan!" Finn replied with forced enthusiasm that made Rachel cringe. "You're super smart with all this survival stuff."

Rachel was about to brush it off by telling him that they'd all learnt it the week before and that Finn really needed to have reread what they'd been given as it was key to their survival. Instead, she was cut off by a piercing scream from the back of the group.

It was Mercedes.

Everyone's heads whipped around at the sound. She was stood, frozen, horror etched across her face, pointing at the branch in front of her. "S-s-snake!"

Puck nonchalantly walked towards her, drawing one of the group's machetes from his belt. "Don't worry, I got you, babe." He cut it's head off in one quick swipe and threw the still writhing body to the side. He gave Mercedes a cheeky wink before swaggering back to Santana and Brittany as they walked on.

After half an hour, Rachel stopped abruptly, observing the area. It was flat enough and there was enough room for all of them. This would be ideal. She turned to the group. "It'll get dark soon and we really need to settle and light a fire before then. "We have two options." She held up her index finger. "One. We camp here for the night. Two," She lifted her middle finger, forming a V. "We just power through to the other side of the island and hope there's a suitable beach there." She gave her friends a few moments to think over the options. "All in favour of option one say aye."

All but one voice answered with a certain aye. The single person that answered with a loud 'NO!' was Mercedes. When questioned as to why she didn't want to stay there, she mumbled something about snakes.

That triggered Santana's reaction of "Grow up, wheezy. There will be snakes and worse everywhere we go on this island. I don't want to hear baby whining whenever you see or hear something move. Capiche?"

"Capiche."

"So then that's sorted." Santana made the decision. We're camping here tonight."

They set to work immediately. First, they did their best to sweep away all the dead leaves and the creepy crawlies that came with them. Then they split into teams. Mercedes, Tina and Mike worked on the fire. Puck, Finn, Sam and Quinn took it on themselves to make some shelter with the fallen branches nearby. The rest of them split off to find some food. Kurt and Rachel walked off together in one direction and Santana and Brittany left to go opposite.

"What are we even looking for?" Kurt asked Rachel, as they walked in a straight line out from their camp.

"Yucca. Or coconuts. We're probably more likely to find yucca here." Rachel answered.

Kurt sighed, scanning the ground for any sight of the plant. "I'm hungry already, I don't know how we'll manage these next few weeks."

Typically, Rachel took the optimistic side. "We've been prepped enough for this trip. You can eat a lot more than me. I think we'll be okay."

Kurt just looked at her disbelievingly. "I can't see how you're seeing this in such a positive light. All it takes is one mistake or misstep and one of us could die. This is the worst idea Mr Schue's ever had. Including not letting us do Britney for so long. And you know how I felt about that."

"Yes but-"

"No, Rachel." Kurt cut in. "You need to realise that not everything is sunshine and rainbows. Before someone gets hurt."

"Okay." Rachel replied quietly.

Her friend looked at her, taken aback. Had Rachel really given in that easily? "Okay?"

"Okay." Rachel nodded. "I agree with you. And I don't want to start any arguments. Especially not this early on. I can see how serious this all is. I do know. Seeing it in a positive light, as you put it, helps me to cope with the reality of it all."

Kurt decided to let it go. Rachel had a good point. They spent the rest of their search in a comfortable silence. After half an hour or so, they returned to camp when it started getting dark.

Back at camp, it was a relief to see that Mercedes, Tina and Mike had got the fire started. Santana and Brittany had returned five minutes before Kurt and Rachel, also empty handed, and were now helping to put the finishing touches to their cover for the night. To the right of the hung up tarpaulin sheets was an abandoned pile of branches. It appeared that the rest of the boys and Quinn hadn't managed to make a sturdy enough structure with those. Not to matter though. They had cover and that was all that was important for now.

At dark, everyone agreed to take an early night. They were exhausted after the day. All their initial adrenaline from their excitement had long gone. There was no food to give them extra energy either. Now they needed to sleep while they could. Every one of them went out like a light as soon as they laid on the floor.

On the first night the glee club had made a rookie mistake. The way they had laid down to sleep left their feet just out of the cover of the tarpaulin. It had tipped it down overnight. Everyone's shoes and feet were sodden wet. Not only that but they failed to cover the fire. They had cold feet and couldn't warm themselves with the fire. It was a hard lesson to learn.

Finn took it upon himself to take charge when they were planning the day ahead. "Why don't the guys set out to find an ideal beach? The girls can stay here and set up the fire again and look for more food."

Quinn rolled her eyes. Of course the girls would have to stay. Finn was probably trying to be chivalrous and offer up the boys to take up the hard work. He wouldn't realise that it made him sound like he didn't think the girls were capable of whatever he could do. However, while splitting up wasn't the best of ideas; it would be so easy to lose each other completely, it also meant that half of the team didn't have to waste too much energy. Instead they could stock up on food and improve camp. So she nodded in agreement with the plan, along with everyone else.

The boys set off straight away.

In times of uncertainty, a leader is needed. You have people who try to lead. They bark orders, hope that people will follow and pray they're right. You have two kinds of proper leaders. One of which takes confidence in their leadership and is the first to clearly emerge. They hold their head high, have authority, and people willingly follow. The second is quieter. They work with their team, giving encouragement and positively motivate the team. A problem arises when you have a person who believes they're the leader as well as the confident leader. It causes more problems than solutions and, often, it is the quieter leader who solves the problems caused.

"We need to go this way." Finn called, pointing to his left.

They'd been walking for an hour and they couldn't even hear any water. They were on an island. Surely they could never be _that_ far away from the sea. So why couldn't they hear the waves yet?

"If we go that way, we'll end up where we've just been." Puck pointed angrily in front of them. "We need to keep going this way."

"But we're not getting anywhere this way." Finn whined.

"Because you keep changing our direction!" Puck clenched his fists at the sides of his head in exasperation. "If we keep changing direction, which you're making us do, we'll end up going in a circle and get nowhere. If we keep going straight forward, we'll eventually end up at a coastal area."

Finn looked around at his friends for some support. But they only seemed to be nodding in agreement with Puck. "Fine." He huffed. They wouldn't be able to blame him when everything went wrong. So, to prove that he disagreed with the choices made, he trailed behind everyone huffing, puffing and stomping.

As it happened, they managed to find a beach soon after. Okay, it wasn't great. It was tiny and had a load of seaweed and grungy slimy looking stuff washed up on the tideline. However, it was still better than their clearing and so it was decided they'd bring the girls back to the beach. After they'd celebrated and rested after their find, though.

The celebration involved them all stripping down to their trunks and running into the sea, cheering. They swam, splashed around and messed about in the ocean for a good half an hour. Once they'd finished, they were tired out and so settled down for a quick afternoon nap before returning to camp.

Back at camp, the girls were getting a bit fidgety. They'd done everything they needed to do. Tina, Mercedes and Rachel cleaned up the camp, kept the fire going and went out in search for water. They failed. Thankfully, they had a fresh supply of water from where the rain had collected on the tarpaulin sheets. That wouldn't last them long, though. Quinn, Santana and Brittany were slightly more successful. They'd gone out to find some food. While they hadn't managed to find much for an entire day's work, they'd found enough yucca to stop their stomachs growling for a few hours.

Dusk had drawn in, it was pitch black, and the girls were getting worried. The boys weren't back yet. They were sure that they would be fine. But it's impossible to stop the niggling in the back or your mind that tells you that they're not.

Rachel called a meeting at the same time as they ate their yucca for supper. "We need to talk about the boys." All the girls gathered around her.

"I'm sure they're fine." Santana offered, weakly. She too was worried. Puck had promised her they'd be back before sundown. Sundown was three hours ago.

"They could be hurt, Santana." Rachel barked back.

"Chill, hobbit. They can handle themselves."

"I have no doubt that they're perfectly capable of looking after themselves in a normal situation. But this is hardly normal. We're a group of seventeen year olds on an island on our own. Anything could go wrong."

"San's just as worried as you, Rachie." Brittany said quietly. "But she just handles it with denial. Don't let her work you up."

"We have to trust in them." Quinn turned to Rachel and spoke softly and earnestly. "If we think negatively then we'll get too bogged down. You need to be mentally strong to survive here. They'll be okay. But if we go out looking for them in this light, everyone'll be lost and we'll do more damage. We can stay here and wait. They know where we are so it'll be easier for them to find us."

Rachel nodded slightly. "Let's just sleep. The sooner we sleep, the sooner it'll feel morning has come, and the sooner we'll see the guys again."

Everyone nodded in agreement. They were all incredibly worried but, like Quinn said, there was nothing they could do and they needed to stay strong. The best thing they could do would be to sleep. Or at least try to.

* * *

 **thank you so much for reading! if you let me know what you think, i'll look at continuing it (or not). this one's up to you :)**


	2. Days Three and Four - Settling Down

**AN:** **I'm back! Thank you so much for showing your love for my fic :) it means I've decided I'm going to carry it on. It's all planned. I just have to try and fit in time to write around my studies, hence why updates may sometimes take some time. But thank you for reading and letting me know what you think, it means so much to me. I hope you like this chapter too :)**

 **PS. this hasn't been beta-ed. I've tried to spot all my mistakes and correct them but the odd one may slip in or I may not notice differences in American and English speech. but i have tried. anyway.. on with the show :)**

* * *

As soon as the sun rose, signalling dawn, the boys woke up. They had planned the night before that they needed to set off as soon as possible in the morning to try and lessen the worry of the girls. This time, it was Kurt who led the way. He suggested keeping the sea on their right side as they walked. It worked because not long after, the boys arrived where they'd been dropped off by the boat. Taking it easy, they retraced their steps and found where they'd settled with the girls. It was Quinn who saw them first.

"You absolute idiot!" She ran up to Puck and punched him on the arm. "What do you think you're doing?! We were so worried about you all!"

"Hey. Babe." He held his hands up in mock surrender. "We're fine, we just fell asleep."

"You just-" Quinn's jaw dropped. "I cannot believe you." Then she turned back to their temporary camp and shouted. "THE BOYS ARE HERE!"

Tina ran from behind the tarpaulin to hug Mike, telling him how terrified she was that he could have got hurt.

Rachel and Mercedes rushed out to see if Kurt was okay. He quickly reassured them that he was as fine as he'd ever be in their current situation.

Brittany dragged Santana to them, initiating a group hug.

Once they separated, Santana demanded they explain what had happened.

The boys all took turns explaining what had happened.

* * *

" _Oh shit!" Mike sat up bolt upright, awake after his afternoon nap. "YOU NEED TO GET UP IF WE WANT TO GET BACK TO CAMP IN TIME." As calm as he wanted to be, he couldn't keep the panic out of his voice._

" _Huh?" Sam woke in confusion at the noise. Then he saw how low the sun was. It had almost disappeared behind the trees. "Oh no." He shared a scared look with Mike. They needed to leave immediately._

 _The pair woke up their friends as quickly as they could so that they could get a move on. Thankfully everyone woke up quickly, panicked, and started getting everything together ready to leave._

 _It was only when Kurt spoke up that they stopped to think. "We need to stay here."_

 _Everyone turned and stared at him, bewildered._

" _It's almost dark. We won't be doing ourselves any favours trying to get back now." He explained. "Think about how long it took us to get here. It'll be worse if we're panicking and it's pitch black."_

" _The girls'll be worried, though." Puck pointed out. And he didn't really want to leave them alone at night. They'd taken all of their machetes. The girls wouldn't be able to protect themselves if they needed it._

" _And they'll be even more worried if we never return." Kurt replied quickly._

" _I have to say I agree with Kurt." Mike admitted. "Besides, they're smart enough to not come out looking for us._

 _Begrudgingly, the rest of the boys agreed. It was better to stay there for that night. So they planned the rest of the evening before dark. They needed to get some water on board and find food if they could. Sam and Puck split to find some water from a spring leading to the sea, and Finn, Kurt and Mike went to find as many coconuts as they could for their dinner._

 _After re-grouping, eating and drinking, they fell asleep once again. The heat from the day had really wiped them out._

* * *

Tina turned to everyone and spoke. "We can't do that again. We need to stick together. It's too much worry and stress. From now on we stick together."

"Hear hear." Mike agreed, pulling Tina safely into his side.

The rest of the glee club echoed Mike, and then they all settled down by the fire.

"Okay, so was the beach suitable for camp?" Rachel opened the question to the guys.

They all exchanged looks of uncertainty. Sam took it upon himself to explain. "It's better that here. But I'm sure there'll be somewhere better to stay. It wasn't the sheltered side of the island so I would imagine it won't be the most pleasant place to stay." All the boys nodded.

"Okay." Rachel flipped the question to the rest of the group. "And girls, what are things like here?"

"Not good." Mercedes said with disgust, shaking her head.

Rachel looked and saw everyone else shaking their heads. "Right then, let's get a move on. Gather everything up and let's get moving."

Everyone began standing up when Brittany called out for them to stop. "Shouldn't we get some food first? I'm super hungry and what if there's not much there?"

"My babe's got this surviving shizzle down." Santana stood on her tiptoes to peck Brittany on the cheek. "I say we all circle around camp and spread outwards for twenty big steps."

Everyone murmured in agreement and set around in a circle. "Is twenty steps going to be enough?" Kurt called.

"Anymore would waste too much time and energy." Quinn replied.

"Let's go!" Shouted Santana.

And off they went. Ten minutes and two yucca roots later, the glee club regrouped and set off to the beach the boys had found.

Kurt led the way, handling confusion about why they were going back the way they had come when they first arrived. "It's easier to find our way if we go by familiar routes. If we just wander then we get lost. Unfortunately we found that out the hard way." He just about held back an eyeroll in remembering the incompetence of his friends. "We go this way and keep the sea on our left so we can make our journey a bit easier."

Quinn found herself nodding slowly. That was a great idea. Especially on new terrain on a small island like they were on. She also noted that everyone was slowing down massively. They'd drank from their rain collection before they left camp but it really wasn't enough. "Hey guys?" She waited for everyone to turn to her attention. "This is going to be a really hard walk but we need to go faster. We need to get to the beach so that we can find ourselves a water source. I don't know about you, but I have a banging headache and my mouth is the driest it's ever been."

"Maybe we could keep our eyes peeled for streams now as well." Rachel suggested.

Everyone mumbled in agreement and started off again, slightly faster than before.

Rachel found her mind wandering as they walked. When she was younger, her dads would tease her about daydreaming and going into "Rachel Land". Every time, she'd deny it. But now, as she got older, she realised that she did daydream quite a lot. Now, she was thinking about this week. They were three days in. That was a seventh of their time there. She had already been so stressed when the boys disappeared. She could only imagine things getting worse. Giving herself a small prep-talk, she convinced herself to work on a tougher skin. If she wanted to get through this, that's what she had to do. Santana and Quinn seemed to be coping pretty well and they have the toughest skin. She needed to be more like Quinn. Especially the Quinn that was on the island. It was a completely new side of her and, being honest, Rachel was loving the qualities. Partially because Quinn wasn't tearing her apart every time they were in close proximity. In fact, it had mostly been the opposite. Quinn had been there for her and had been strong when the boys hadn't returned. The other reason was that Quinn was proving to be a natural leader. Which, in Rachel's mind, was great. She loved leading the glee club. Music was her strong suit. However her leadership had carried over to the trip and, though she'd taken it upon herself to keep leading, she was a bit lost and wasn't sure what to do in every situation. Quinn did, though. And that was a huge relief for Rachel. She took a mental note to thank Quinn for that later.

Quinn was in the middle of the group - a few people behind Rachel. She, too found her mind wandering elsewhere. Hers, however, went to her father. Quinn thought he'd always wanted a son. Since she was his second and last child, it seemed he geared her activities more to what he'd do with a son. Several times a year he'd take her on a father-daughter weekend and they'd go camping somewhere they'd never been before. Quinn had loved it. She had no idea how helpful those days would be. When you do certain things from the age of about six until thirteen, it can be difficult to forget them. They stay ingrained in the back of your mind. That was a relief for Quinn. Though this terrain was completely foreign to her, some of the same things were still useful. She knew which plants to stay away from at a single glance. Making water safe to drink was second nature. These, along with many other things, would help her and her classmates survive better.

The sun was getting higher and, despite the cover from the trees, the heat alone was causing some troubles for the group. Everyone was sweating; losing energy along with vital water. It was exhausting them and they needed food or water as soon as possible.

"When're we gonna get there?" Brittany complained.

Mercedes, just behind her needed an answer too. "It better be close because I think I'm going to faint in this heat."

"It isn't far now." Puck replied. "I recognise these trees."

Santana snorted. "Bullshit. These trees all look the same."

"While that's true," Kurt shouted from the back towards Santana, who was closer to the front of the group. "We should be there within ten minutes if we're going by how long it took us to get back yesterday."

"Thank god." Santana looked to the sky, silently praying for them to get there much sooner than in ten minutes time. She pulled a face of disgust. There was nothing more that she hated than the sea at that moment in time. Maybe the heat was pretty bad. But the sea was a huge pool of water. So much water. But it couldn't be drank. If you asked her, it was taking the piss.

Just as she was about to make a comment about it, Finn pumped his fist up in the air at the front. "WE MADE IT!"

The glee club smiled through their fatigue and let themselves rest for fifteen minutes in the shade before Rachel got them up and ready to make decisions and to get themselves some food and water. "Everyone up!" She called. "We need to get sorted before dusk. Then we can rest properly."

Slowly, and grumbling, everyone made their way over to Rachel and they sat in a circle on the beach. "What're people's ideas?"

"I say we stay here." Mercedes said.

Quinn raised an eyebrow.

"What're you pulling that face for, blondie?" Mercedes asked.

"We can't stay here." Quinn sighed. "It's too open. When there's a storm, we'll get battered. Sure, this is better than the clearing but there'll be better out there. We need to look for somewhere else tomorrow."

"But it's so sunny." Tina put in.

Quinn just shook her head. "It is now. But weather changes fast. Plus, look around." She gestured at the shrubs on the edge of the sand. "There's no sustainable food source here."

Santana smirked. "Nice one, Quinnie." She teased. "That's my girl."

The blonde blushed.

"I agree with Quinn." Rachel grinned. "We can rest later today but tomorrow we'll find somewhere more suitable."

"We won't split up though, will we?" Brittany asked, worried.

"Of course not." Rachel reassured her. Then she turned to Quinn. "You've taken to this experience rather well, Quinn. There's a great leader in you." Rachel saw that Quinn was about to shake it off and say it was nothing. "I'm sure everyone agrees. Especially Finn. You got him onto dry land when none of us thought to help him. We need to work more as a team and you showed that wonderfully. Then you were the steady head when the boys disappeared for the night. Thank you."

Quinn smiled and looked at her hands in her lap. Looking over the frame of her glasses, she shyly took her praise. Then promptly changed the subject. "So what about food, water and a fire?"

Finn took over the conversation here. "Me and Rach can stay here to start the fire." He suggested. "Then we could split the group down the middle to decide who gets food and who gets water."

They all split down the middle of the circle, and Rachel began to mentally prepare herself for talking to Finn. Trying to avoid any awkward conversations, Rachel got right into it when the rest of the group had gone. "If we split up to get as many twigs and sticks and dry timber as possible, we can build the fire up as we go, so it doesn't have a chance to blow out."

Finn's heart dropped. There was a danger he wouln't be able to talk to Rachel alone. He didn't want to upset her by going against what she suggested, though. So he nodded along and agreed. He'd just have to find wood for the fire really quickly. "Shall I get one load and then come back to make the bow and drill?"

"Excellent thinking!" Rachel praised and headed off into the woods.

When they re-joined, Rachel had gathered a pile of wood that would last them past tomorrow morning and Finn had used some of their rope to make the bow. As Rachel arrived, he had just finished making the drill.

"Hey, Rach." He greeted.

"Hi." She answered shortly, getting started on the bow.

There was dead air between them.

Rachel tried to focus her attention on the waves but even that couldn't distract her from the awkwardness of the situation.

"So…" Finn tried to fill the silence.

"So." Rachel echoed, dreading whatever was coming next. There had to be a reason for him wanting to spend time with her and only her.

He cleared his throat. "This island thing is pretty cool, huh?"

"It certainly is a once in a lifetime chance." She offered.

Finn nodded. "Yeah and you're, like, super good at remembering all the stuff we need to know. Like knots and making fires and stuff. You're really smart, Rach. It's one of my favourite things about you."

Rachel closed her eyes slowly and grimaced. "Look, Finn.." She faltered, trying to find the right words. "I appreciate your compliments. I really do. But I can't help but feel like you're wanting to get something out of them. But there's a reason I broke up with you."

"But-"

"Finn, honour my wish." Rachel pleaded. "You'll be a much better person if you leave it be."

The tall boy almost fought again for his cause but dropped it and ducked his head. "Okay."

"You're a good guy, Finn." Rachel comforted as she held the base for Finn to use the bow and drill. She could feel it warming by her hands. "When you find the right girl, she'll be a lucky one."

"Thanks, Rach." He cleared his throat and changed the subject. "I hope this fire starts soon. My arms are hurting."

Bending to look at the base of the drill at its level, Rachel hummed. "It'll start soon, I'm sure."

The two of them stared at it as Finn worked, willing it to light. When it smoked and sparked, they cheered and hurriedly moved the lit wood shavings to blow on. As soon as the fire broke out, Rachel gently put it on the floor and started building the sticks around it.

After ten minutes, the fire was steadily burning and crackling. It definitely wasn't going to go out anytime soon. Finn high fived Rachel and they celebrated their feat. All that was left was to sit back at wait for their friends to come back with food and water.

Luckily it didn't take long. The rest of the glee club returned; Sam and Puck with arms full of coconuts, Santana and Brittany carrying one heaving looking jerry can between them, Kurt and Mike carrying the other, and Mercedes and Tina carrying what looked like water bottles. Quinn was trailing behind, her arms out to the sides carrying crabs.

They greeted Finn and Rachel, cheek splitting grins on their faces. Bee-lining for the fire, they put the jerry cans on top of the big logs Finn had put on. While they boiled, the crabs were put to cook on the fire and the coconuts were split between them.

As her friends sat around the fire, sharing stories about what they'd come across while searching for food and water, Quinn sat in her own little word. It was easier to think now that she'd eaten some coconut and drank its milk. She was still waiting for the water to boil but that would take three hours. For now, she was the healthiest she'd felt in days and so she felt comfortable with thinking more clearly. Quinn decided to plan a little in her head for what to do next and what to do in different circumstances. After all, she thought, it was better to plan now with a clear head rather than later in a panicked, possibly starved or dehydrated state.

They had no idea what their next location was going to be like. Quinn could only hope that, like this beach, there would be a steady stream to supply water. If not there were possible ways to evaporate sea water to remove the salt. But that didn't seem worth it. If a water source was too far away, they'd probably have to relocate. Water was their main priority. Next came food. They should be okay there. With any luck, they'd have a steady supply of fish and shellfish. Setting up traps for the animals on land was also an option. It wasn't fool proof, but it was worth it. For Rachel, though, food would be difficult to find. Her and Puck wouldn't be able to eat any shellfish due to being Jewish and Rachel's veganism was really going to throw a spanner in the works. Quin made it a point to focus on giving Rachel the first dibs on what she could eat.

From there, her mind drifted to Rachel. Surprisingly, the tiny diva hadn't annoyed her one bit while they'd been on the island. It was strange as she wasn't really acting any differently to how she did at school. Rachel was as loud and overbearing as usual. There was one difference, however. Quinn wasn't surrounded by a whole school in front of which she had to put on a bitchy act. The glee club were her friends and didn't care how she acted. Okay, so they'd hate it if she bullied them again. But they didn't care about the lack of image. If anything, they seemed to prefer it. While she was pregnant, they seemed to be the only ones who didn't shun her for it. With them, she felt like she could be herself more. Not one hundred percent herself. No-one was shown that side. Her walls were never completely knocked down. They were just a bit smaller there.

"Hey, Q?" Santana pulled her away from her thoughts.

"Huh, sorry. What was that?" Quinn blinked a few times, reigning her thoughts into the present.

"We were just checking if everyone was ready to get back to their jobs for the afternoon before the sun goes down and we turn in for the night." Brittany supplied with a smile.

"Oh, sure!" Quinn got up, trying to swot all the sand off her backside. This was bound to be the rest of their time there. The blonde found herself thinking. Every day would end up being task after task in a long routine.

* * *

The next day came and the glee club woke with the sun. Blearily eyed, they nibbled up coconuts and filled up a water bottle they'd found on washed up with boiled, but now cooled, water. The remaining water in the jerry cans was poured over the fire to put it out, so they were lighter and easier to carry.

Their plan was very much the same as the previous. Keep the sea on one side and walk until they find a better beach. It may not be the easiest of ways but it's the best way to ensure they didn't get lost. This time it would be easier though because they had more food in their bellies and they had water to keep them going.

It took a good four to five hours to find the next possible spot. Everyone was lagging but Puck encouraged them to carry on. "The quicker we get there, the sooner we can rest and get things sorted for real." Granted, they could all get rest there and then but there was a sense of certainty in his voice that kept them all going.

Then, when they found it, nothing had to be said. That beach would be where they'd spend the rest of their time. It was gorgeous to start off with. A two hundred metre stretch of white sand, the sea tropical blues and greens, small rocky cliffs to the left as you look out to the sea and a clearing twenty feet back from the beach lined with tall trees. It was perfect.

"I don't know about you, but I'm staying here." Kurt grinned, taking his rucksack off.

Everyone cheered in agreement, following suit by dropping their bags to the floor.

To everyone's surprise, Santana stripped down to her bikini. "No need to stare." She smirked. "I'm going for a dip. Anyone who wants to can join."

But before they could get any further, Quinn spoke as she pushed her glasses back to a comfortable position on her nose. "I think we need to get set up first."

"Don't be such a debbie downer, Q." Santana complained. "Let us have some fun."

"I, for one, agree with Quinn." Rachel spoke up. "We're exhausted. Our main priority is to start the fire, find a water source and get some food before anything else. By all means after then go frolicking in the sea if you have the energy. For now, though, we must put all of our effort into getting the essentials."

Tina slowly nodded her head. "That's a fair point. We are really tired." She scrunched her mouth up in thought. "Maybe we could rest a bit now, though."

Rachel nodded, almost aggressively. "Of course!" And with that, she sat herself on the floor cross-legged on the sand before gulping down the rest of her water. "Fifteen minutes rest?"

"Fifteen minutes." Santana echoed, nodding.

Five more hours later and everyone was ready for the day to be over. Everyone had repeated the previous day's activities. The only difference was how they started the fire.

* * *

" _It won't start." Finn whined, elongating the words. He was fed up of the drill breaking._

 _Rachel took over with a sigh. She'd spent ages searching for kindling for the fire and was exhausted. There was nothing she wanted more than a nap. Instead of complaining, though, she got on with it. The wood they had seemed a bit brittle. Finn hadn't been as incompetent as she thought. It was the drill material that was causing the problem. Rachel was a big believer in the saying "a bad workman always blames his tools" but this time it was a genuine problem and didn't feel too bad blaming the lack of fire on the wood._

 _As she looked up, trying to think of another way to start a fire, she saw Quinn walking towards them with some tangled rope. They could try to use that rope on a new bow to see if that would help. "QUINN!" She shouted from where she was kneeling in the sand._

 _The blonde came jogging over. "Yeah, Rach?"_

 _Rachel blinked quickly. Rach? That was a new development. It was better than RuPaul or Man Hands so she kept quiet and kept to the task at hand. "Could we use that rope for the drill and bow, please?" She requested. "It isn't working."_

 _Quinn handed it over with a shrug. "Pass me the tinder for a second." When she had it in her hands, she motioned for Rachel to follow her into the sun. "I'm farsighted so this should work." She mumbled and asked the brunette to take her glasses. "Get a drop of seawater in the centre of one of the lenses and carry it back without spilling any."_

 _Rachel rushed to the sea and back. "Okay, what next?"_

 _Quinn bit her lip. "Theoretically the sun should shine through the water and my glasses and bend to be focussed on one spot. Hopefully that should start a fire."_

 _Rachel furrowed her eyebrows. "You don't sound too sure… How long will it take?"_

 _A sharp breath was pushed out of Quinn's nose. "I don't know, Rachel." She tried to snap but it came out more tired than anything. "Surprisingly I've never spent my time trying to set things on fire using my glasses." After some awkward silence and no smoke or fire, Quinn spoke up again. "Try to move the glasses to make the light spot smaller and more concentrated."_

" _On it." Rachel pushed through the increasing pain in her tired arm._

 _Less than a minute later, the tinder started smoking. "Okay, Rach, please stay still now." The blonde blew gently onto the tinder. Fire encased the tinder immediately and Quinn ran, with it still in her hands, up to the shaded part of the beach before dropping in and ordering Rachel and Finn to build the fire. Then she ran to the sea to cool her slightly burning hands._

 _When she got back to Finn and Rachel, Finn clapped her on the back in congratulations and Rachel jumped on her in a hug, claiming that using glasses to start a fire was the smartest thing she'd ever heard of. Quinn was fully aware that that certainly wasn't the case. But that didn't mean she didn't enjoy the praise and physical contact. It had been way too long since she'd had a hug and, despite Rachel being the one to do it, she relished the feel of the small body against hers._

* * *

The rest of the evening was to be spent getting to know the area. Everyone split into pairs and threes, in couples or close friends, and wandered around the beach and the jungle behind to see what their surroundings were like.

At dusk, the group met back at camp and made the unanimous decision to stay where they were and make it their main camp. There was sure to be a plentiful food supply and there was a bigger stream than last time which made for a more than ideal water source. With that settled, everyone was relieved and, with a little food in their bellies, fell asleep and ready for whatever the rest of their time on the island would throw at them.

* * *

 **There we have it, folks. Next time will be days five and six. In theory, settling down and making set jobs should make things easier for the gang. In practice, however, people, weather and animals are unpredictable so we'll see how things go.**

 **Thank you, once again, for reading. It'd be bomb af if you let me know what you thought but it's your choice :) whatever happens, I hope you enjoyed it :)**


	3. Days Four and Five - Duty Delegation

**Hello all! Sorry this update is so delayed. I've had so much work and family to look after and so much stress. Not enough time to write as I'd like, unfortunately. But I'm not giving up on this. I love the challenge of writing a desert island fic. This just won't have a set update schedule. Thank you for sticking with me, though! I hope this makes up for it a lil bit**

* * *

Morning came and, luckily, everyone slept soundly through the night. The fire had kept going and everyone was re-energised and ready to start a new day. Well, as energised as you could be in their situation. When everyone was awake, the glee club sat around the fire in a circle to eat their breakfast of coconuts.

There was a mutual agreement that there should be set duties and a weekly-changing rota set around them. After a bit of discussion, it was decided that there would be three jobs. One of which - fire and sleepspace - would be slightly easier than the other two so that, should people need it, they could have time to relax. If they didn't need that, they could help with those on the on food and water tasks as they were the most important and most challenging.

The groups were decided through pulling sticks. The people who pulled the shortest sticks got water, the longest got food, and the medium length sticks got fire and sleepspace. It worked out so that Quinn, Rachel, Puck and Sam were on food first; Kurt, Santana and Brittany were on water; Finn, Mike, Tina and Mercedes were on fire and sleepspace. The latter group split it so that Mercedes was on the fire and the other three worked on their sleeping space and shelter.

For the rest of the day, people split into their groups and decided on plans for their part of the rota.

Those on food decided it was best to split in half so that they'd get both meat and vegetation for food. Sam and Puck were quick to call shotgun on hunting. They high fived and set off to set some traps and to see if they could catch anything with their bare hands. That left Rachel and Quinn forced together.

Initially, the both of them winced slightly. They were sure it would be nothing short of awkward. Then, the pair of them realised that it most likely wouldn't. At school? Most definitely. But on the island? The probability was slight. There was no-one else around who would force them to keep up the images they held at school. Quinn could be nice to Rachel - the brunette knew Quinn had the ability. It was just a matter of whether or not she wanted to carry it out.

"We're on the plants, then." Quinn attempted to start a conversation.

"Looks like it." Rachel started walking up the beach towards the trees. "Let's start with what's on the floor."

And so the girls began collecting all the coconuts they could find on the floor in silence. It was better to eat them first before they rotted.

"I think we've got enough!" Rachel shouted as she added a coconut to the pile. They now had a pile of twenty or so. "Let's take them back to camp and check if they're fresh enough and we can be in the shade."

The next ten minutes were spent in silence, checking the coconuts over to check if they were ripe and suitable to eat. That was done by shaking it by the ear to check they could hear some water, giving it an overall check for any cracks or mould. If needed, it was smelt to detect any mould or tapped to see if it was shallow enough. Those that were useless were thrown to the side to be cut and used as bowls, and those that were edible were put in another pile just in front of them. In that pile was a mix of fully ripe coconuts, along with a few which were a few months short of ripe. They'd still be fine to eat but the meat inside would just be a bit softer.

"Hey, Berry?" Quinn said.

Rachel resisted the urge to roll her eyes. So she was no longer referred to by her first name. It had been fun while it lasted. At least Quinn hadn't returned to her cruel nicknames. Yet. "Yes, Quinn?"

"Should we try to get down a coconut that isn't ripe? It'll have water in it and I think coconut water is supposed to be full of nutrients." The blonde suggested. "I'm not sure how we'd get one down though." She pushed her glasses up her nose and mashed her lips together in thought.

Rachel nodded enthusiastically. "Great plan." She hopped onto her feet and motioned with her head for Quinn to follow her.

"It's all well and good you agreeing to get a coconut, but we still don't have a way to get them down." Quinn sighed, annoyed.

"How good is your hand-eye co-ordination?" Rachel asked.

Quinn raised her eyebrow. "Pretty good. I used to play softball with San and Britts in summer." She smirked at the memory of their dream team. They'd won every game they played together. "Are you wanting to throw things at them until one falls?"

Rachel shook her head. "Are you any good at catching?"

This time Quinn's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She mashed her lips together again, trying to work out where Rachel was going with that.

"I'll throw it to you." The brunette explained.

Quinn snorted.

Rachel huffed indignantly and put her hands on her hips. "I am perfectly capable, Quinn."

The blonde laughed. "Yeah and I'm the president. Come on, Berry. You can't be thinking of reaching it from down here. No-one's tall enough for that - least of all you. There's no way you're climbing either. I doubt your ability and even if you could climb, your nose would get in the way of you getting anywhere."

Rachel winced. Maybe Quinn hadn't changed. Yesterday's Quinn was kind and seemed like a dream compared to how she was at that moment and how she was normally.

There was nothing that pleased Rachel more than proving people wrong and so she was going to do just that. Instead of retaliating or commenting on Quinn's insult, Rachel just turned her back to Quinn to face the tree. She took a few steps until she was right up against it and wrapped her arms and legs around the trunk as best she could. And with that, she scaled the tree. In no time at all, she reached the top. "Ready to catch it?" She called down to Quinn.

Quinn nodded yes, amazed not only that Rachel had managed to climb the tree, but also the speed at which she scaled it. The cheerleader held her arms out and caught the falling coconut. She thanked god she hadn't dropped it. Quinn could think of nothing more embarrassing than having butterfingers just after Rachel had scaled a whole tree. She put it on the floor, caught another two, and then watched as Rachel descended the tree.

At about seven foot from the bottom, Rachel jumped and landed in a crouch. As she stood up, she brushed the sand off her hands by rubbing them together. "What was it you were saying, Quinn?" She asked with a smirk before walking past her back to camp.

Quinn followed behind, still slightly in shock. Her mouth was opening and closing in search of a solution, looking a little like a goldfish. Picking up to a jog, she managed to catch Rachel up. "Where did you learn that?!" She demanded. Not in a cruel manner but rather asking as if she couldn't believe her eyes.

"As I've said before, my fathers saw childhood sports and other activities as very important things. Gymnastics was one of my best. It helped with my dancing. Until my dancing and singing took over everything anyway." She stopped suddenly, making Quinn stumble in the sand. "So it was pretty easy, despite my nose." Rachel walked on, watching what Quinn did in her peripheral vision. Quinn had no image to uphold when it was just the two of them. Rachel was curious if she would let it drop or not.

"Sorry." Quinn murmured incoherently.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Rachel asked, perfectly aware of what Quinn had said.

"You heard me, Rachel." Quinn grumbled.

Rachel grinned. Her name was back. Maybe she had to earn it. If that was the case, she was up to the challenge. "Lunch time?" She offered.

"Lunch time." Quinn nodded back and the two shared a coconut between them and drank some of their water, making sure they saved some for later if they desperately needed it.

A few moments after they'd finished, Quinn turned to Rachel. "I hate to suggest this, but I know what the boys are like. Would you be okay going fishing? I know you don't agree with it but the boys'll just be out setting traps that probably won't catch anything."

Rachel hummed in thought and tilted her head to the side. "While I do not agree with this in any way, I care enough for my peers' lives. So I will go fishing with you but I refuse to do any of the killing."

A shiver ran down Quinn's back. She'd forgotten the killing part. She'd have to do that quickly. "Let's get these rods set up."

Their fishing rods were incredibly basic. They'd found two long sticks, tied thin rope around them in a way that they wouldn't fall off, and tied the hooks to the other end of the line. For bait they'd found a rotting log covered in bugs - they'd, rather squeamishly, caught and crushed some. A plastic bag was also picked up from the beach so that they had a place to put any fish if they caught them.

Now, they needed to decide on the best place to go fishing.

They agreed to fish off the rocks. There was a small outcrop at the left side of the beach as you looked to the sea. If you didn't quite go all the way to the end, there was a sheltered area thriving with fish. The only issue was whether any would bite or not.

They didn't.

Not for the first hour and a half. Being honest, both the girls were pretty glad they hadn't caught any. They wanted to bring back food for their friends, of course, but that didn't stop their feeling of relief when they spent so long without having to kill anything.

Then Rachel felt a tug at her rod. At first she thought she'd imagined it so stayed as she was. Next thing she knew, she was yanked forward.

Rachel's scream caught Quinn's attention and the blonde's head whipped around to check if Rachel was alright. She was. But the tiny girl was struggling to keep a hold on her rod. "Don't fall in!" Quinn exclaimed, rushing to help and grabbing the rod to add some strength.

Between the two of them, they managed to work something out. Stood side to side, it wasn't really working. Quinn noticed and, focused on catching the fish, moved behind Rachel so her front was against the brunette's back with her arms wrapped around Rachel to hold the rod. She set her feet wide, creating a larger base to hopefully keep them more stable. "Step back your right foot back with me in three." She gritted through her teeth. "One. Two. Three."

Their feet moved back in unison.

"Okay. Well done." Quinn praised. "Now after another countdown we'll move our left foot then right foot."

"Okay." Rachel nodded, breathless. She had no idea what could be on the end of the rod. She hoped to god that it was worth it.

"Three two one. Left." One step back. "Right." Two steps back. "Left." Three steps back. "Okay. We don't want to break the line." Quinn paused as they caught their breath. "We need to do one big pull. After three." She felt Rachel nod. "One, two, three."

They tugged.

The rope snapped.

They tumbled.

Quinn landed with a thud, Rachel on top of her.

Immediately, Rachel rolled off the blonde and scrambled to her feet. "Oh my god, are you okay?!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, you weigh nothing, hobbit." Quinn waved Rachel's concern away. She was still breathless though. "Just a bit winded from hitting the rocks, that's all." She waited a few moments to catch her breath before getting up and ignored Rachel's extended hand intended to pull her up. "Let's head back to camp." As soon as she was back on her feet, Quinn brushed her hands on her front, picked up her rod, and started walking back to their current home.

Rachel followed quickly, following suit and watching the blonde with worry because she spent a fair few minutes cracking her neck and circling her shoulders. It was clear Quinn didn't want to speak with the way she stormed off in front, but Rachel's priority was checking if she was okay. "Are you sure you're not hurt?"

"I'm fine." Quinn's response was short and stubborn.

Rachel shook her head in despair. "Honestly, Quinn." She huffed. "This isn't school anymore. Coach Sylvester isn't yelling at you to get up and at it again. We're on our own here. We need to be more careful than ever now."

Quinn's pace slowed.

Rachel took that as a sign to keep going. "Just let me have a look. Then we can leave it be if you're okay."

Quinn slowly closed her eyes in defeat. "Fine." She mumbled.

"Thank you." Rachel replied equally quietly. "Am I okay to~" The brunette tugged on Quinn's shirt in permission to lift it. The blonde's hair shook with the motion of her nodding her head. When Rachel proceeded, she sighed a sigh of relief. "It looks like it's bruising a bit but nothing looks swollen." She let Quinn's shirt drop and the pair started walking back again.

"I knew I was fine." Quinn smiled. Her tone was relieved rather than snarky because she'd been right and Rachel had been wrong. "Sorry for snapping."

Now it was Rachel's turn to smile. "I forgive you, so long as you don't do it again." Rachel wasn't expecting that to happen but a girl could dream.

"I'll try not to."

Quinn's response surprised Rachel. It sounded sincere. She was expecting for Quinn to just laugh in her face. "Let's start with the simple things - calling me by my own name." She gave a friendly jeering nudge to Quinn's side with her elbow as she added, "Which I know you can do because you did it yesterday."

Quinn snorted. "I think I can manage that, _Rachel_." Quinn said, stressing the name at the end.

"Pleased to have made a deal with you." Rachel quipped.

The following ten minutes completed their walk back and both girls took their time to think.

Rachel's mind was on Quinn. She was baffled how far their relationship had come in the past few days in comparison to the last few years. They weren't exactly friends. But they were well on their way. If Rachel had pushed Quinn like she had a few moments ago, two or three years ago, Rachel wasn't sure if she'd still be alive today. That was a slight exaggeration but Quinn would have torn her apart word after word. Now, here they were and Rachel had been allowed to push the blonde and get her way. It was for the Quinn's benefit but it was still surprising that Rachel had been allowed to do check her back.

Quinn's mind was on Rachel. The blonde wondered why she was spending so much time thinking about Rachel while they'd been on the island. Granted, they'd only been there a few days but every moment she had to think seemed to go towards the brunette. Quinn was sure it hadn't been like that before. Or perhaps it had been. She hadn't thought about it before. Maybe being on the island just gave her more thinking time in which to think about Rachel. Making a person's life miserable _did_ mean that you thought about them quite often. Even though she'd stepped back a bit in the last year after Beth, Quinn had still done a lot of thinking about Rachel. The blonde decided it was best to try not to dwell on it too much for now. Too much thinking was dangerous and in their situation she had a lot of time to think. It was better to focus on surviving the trip.

When they got back, they praised Finn, Mike, Tina and Mercedes on how they'd sorted out their living space. It was right at the top of the beach, just covered by the trees. The sand had been dug into slightly so there was a flat area to sleep in, with eleven slight wells for the club to sleep in and there was a small cover over the fire. It was a first come-first served situation regarding where people would be sleeping so Rachel and Quinn grabbed their bags to put by the well they'd picked as their own bed. After that, they decided they'd go off for some alone time. It was draining to spend the entire day with people. Everyone was due to reassemble at dark so they could have some sort of meal together and then sleep soon after.

* * *

After their dinner, everyone was still pretty hungry. They'd eaten half of the coconuts Rachel and Quinn had found, and tried to fill up their stomachs on their water supply. It really wasn't enough. Sam and Puck's traps hadn't caught anything that day so they were just left with the coconuts. Hopefully after a sleep everyone would get a little rest for a successful day tomorrow. Everyone retired to their beds, stomachs still grumbling, and tried their best to go to sleep.

* * *

 **There had been a storm overnight. A bad one. The glee club went from sleeping under the stars to sleeping under howling gales. Everyone had got soaking wet and cold from the wind blowing both the rain and the sea under their shelter.**

After a very uncomfortable and broken sleep, the group woke well after sunrise.. Tina was the first to wake. When she noticed how high the sun was in the sky, she walked around her friends, waking them one by one. Rachel was the second to physically get up. Everyone else was still sat up in bed, rubbing their eyes and stretching trying to wake themselves up faster. Rachel split enough coconuts in half so that everyone got some and there were still a few left in case they found no more substantial food that day.

The food was eaten in silence. They lacked too much energy to even complain. Everyone knew their jobs and so got on with what they needed to do after a quick dip in the sea for a wash.

Rachel and Quinn wordlessly collected twelve healthy coconuts between them and took them back to camp. They refreshed themselves with some water before heading onto the beach again.

The beach was a mess. The storm had washed up piles of rubbish onto the sand. The glee clubbers on water duty were searching through it all to try and find themselves some water bottles to expand their storage of drinking water. They could only boil so much at a time to purify it so there was a limiting factor there. But once it had been boiled, it could be put in water bottles. That way one jerry can could be used for boiling and one for newly found water at all times. The drinkable water was stored in bottles that were buried under the sand to keep them as cool as possible under the hot sun.

Rachel turned to Quinn. "Do you think it's unrealistic to try and look for some food in all this stuff?" Rachel gestured towards the washed up matter.

Quinn scrunched up her mouth in thought. "Not unrealistic. It's unlikely but it's possible." She walked forward and kicked a piece of driftwood out of the way in the hope there'd be something underneath it. There was nothing. "There's no harm in looking, though. We can do a comb of the beach. We're more likely to find something like an old fishing net which will at least be of some help."

And so the pair walked to the far end of the beach to start their search. They were going to snake along the beach, starting at the water's edge and walking towards the trees, then back down again a metre further along the beach. They'd cover two metres of the beach in one direction working at it together. Hopefully it wouldn't take them too long. The sun beating down on them made it hard work.

After several trips back to camp for a small snack and a drink of water, Rachel and Quinn were a third of their way up the beach. Luckily the tide didn't change too quickly and the girls had managed to get this far without the sea coming in too much.

Rachel wanted to give up. The sun was really strong and she was struggling to cope. The hair on top of her head was boiling hot. She needed to cover her head with something. Maybe a t-shirt would do the job. The brunette had caked herself in plenty of sunblock before she and Quinn set out. She was covered so it was safe to strip down to her bikini. Rachel decided to use the top she was wearing to protect her head.

As Rachel pulled her shirt over her head, she heard Quinn snort. "What on earth are you doing?"

Rachel lowered her top again to speak to the blonde. "I'm using my t-shirt as a hat. The last thing I want is to get sun stroke."

Quinn just shrugged with a smile. "You do you, Rachel."

And so Rachel began to lift her shirt. As it was over her head, she lost her balance. She stepped forwards but her foot got caught on something.

Rachel fell flat on her face.

In a flash, Quinn was by her side. She removed the shirt from Rachel's head to see if the brunette was okay. Thankfully she was. She was just a bit dazed.

Quinn breathed a sigh of relief. She went to check what Rachel had tripped on. "Oh my god." She breathed out in surprise.

"What?!" Rachel asked, sitting herself up and putting her t-shirt back on. Properly this time. She'd have to work out how to fashion a sun protector later when she was more stable.

Quinn shook her head in disbelief. "You managed to fall over a fishing net." The blonde moved onto her knees to uncover more of the net. "It looks really tangled but we could spend the afternoon sorting it out."

Rachel shuffled on her backside to get to where she could see the net properly. "It seems like falling has served us well this time." She got to her feet. "Let's go back to camp. We can untangle it there."

To their surprise, when they got to camp, everyone was there. The fire and sleeping stations people were supposed to be there but both Quinn and Rachel were confused as to why the rest of the food group and the whole of the water group were back too.

Rachel sped up towards them and stopped, putting her hands on her hips. "Why is no-one doing anything?"

Puck was the one to speak up. "Babe. Chill. Me and my boy Sam have just got back from setting more traps. The water losers were back just before us."

Finn tilted his head, trying to work out what Quinn was carrying. "What've you got there?"

Quinn brought it out from behind her back. "A fishing net!" She told them with a grin. "We can catch more fish this way!"

Everyone looked skeptical. Apart from Brittany. But she was soon elbowed by Santana so she copied everyone else.

"The net's a mess, Fabray." Santana pointed out.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Which is why we'll spend this afternoon untangling it."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "It's going to be full of holes."

"Yeah, you're better off using a hook." Puck criticised.

"Like you'd know." Quinn bit back. "You and Sam have been off like school boys setting useless traps. If you'd done something helpful, you'd know that the fish don't bite."

Puck threw his hands up in mock surrender. "Okay, Q. You won't be saying that when me and Sam catch us a monster meal in one of our traps." He held his hand up for Sam to high five.

Quinn's icy glare cut them off from bragging about possible future catches anymore.

Sam cleared his throat, not wanting to be the one to piss people off so early into the trip. "I'll go fishing with the hooks with Puck in a bit. We'll collect some things from the rock pools too."

"Does anyone else have a problem with the net?!" Quinn demanded.

No-one dared point any issues out with it.

"Good." Quinn picked up a couple of recently filled water bottles, held the net under her arm and dragged Rachel further along the beach in the shade. "We'll show them, Rach." She muttered. "Let's go."

Rachel followed her like a lost puppy.

When they were out of earshot, Santana cracked a joke to settle the waters. "Wow, Q's spent too much time with the hobbit already. The dwarf's storm out habit has rubbed off on her already."

The glee club laughed at the slight dig. This small feud would be over by dinner time. Quinn and Rachel moving elsewhere would just speed up the process.

* * *

In the shade, Rachel and Quinn were sat next to each other with a split coconut between them, tackling the fishing tet. Rachel had one end and Quinn had the other.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked tentatively. She didn't want Quinn to bite her head off.

The blonde nodded, thinking for a moment. "I'm just annoyed they didn't even give us a chance. They're perfectly happy with Puck and Sam setting traps that haven't, and probably won't ever catch anything. And they just go and shut us down straight away. We're trying our best."

Rachel smiled. "All we have to do is prove them wrong."

Quinn sighed in agreement.

"You don't have to be that angry Quinn when you're here." Rachel looked up to make eye contact with Quinn. "We all know that's not really you."

The blonde turned away defensively. "You don't know that."

"I do." Rachel softly put her hand on Quinn's knee to get her attention. "You always try to do the right thing when it matters. It doesn't always work out right but you try your best."

Quinn snorted. "What, like messing up by getting pregnant and deciding to give my child away?" Her tone was an attempt at being malicious but it came through as sounding almost helpless instead. "I had no other choice. I do things like getting with Puck while I was with Finn. That wasn't the right thing to do."

"You can't let one mistake define you." Rachel spoke gently. "And even during your pregnancy, you were always thinking about the baby. I know you wanted to give it to the Schuesters because Mr Schue would've made a good dad. One that your child would be safe with. You've continuously shown support for women's rights when the glee boys haven't been acting up to standard. Plus you really helped Mercedes when she was feeling low about her size and appearance. Then, while you've been here, you helped Finn actually get onto the island. And you calmed me when the boys were lost. You're not all bad, Quinn."

The blonde was silent. She stared intently at the part of the net she was untangling.

"If it means anything at all," Rachel continued in the same tone. "I think you're a good person."

Quinn ducked her head. She murmured a barely audible thank you.

It was clear to Rachel that Quinn didn't want to talk anymore. Well, she hadn't talked much. Or at all. But she needed a change in subject. "Now let's get to work at proving them wrong." She grinned.

Quinn grinned back. They were going to be right about this one.

Wanting to keep up conversation, Rachel took a bite of the coconut and asked Quinn the first thing that came to her mind. "So what are your thoughts on Mr Schuester's dancing?"

* * *

As the dusk reared its head, Rachel and Quinn were relieved to have had enough daylight to last them untangling the net. It was too dark to take it out to sea now. They could have done it but there was an increased risk of sharks at dusk and neither of them wanted to risk meeting a hungry shark.

They returned to camp arm in arm with smiles on their faces. There had been no prior agreement but no-one mentioned the net squabble and everyone acted as nothing had happened. The glee club sat around the fire eating a mix of yucca and limpets that had been scraped from the rocks. It wasn't much but they were all content in that moment.

Once their food had gone down, everyone retired to their beds to get some rest for the following day.

* * *

 **thank you all very kindly for reading! let me know what you think and i can try to fit in any ideas you have if you want :) pop your thoughts/suggestions in the reply/review feature or hit me up on my tumblr - flungintospace :) i'd love to chat if you're down w/ that. i'll leave you be now ~ thank you for reading! it means a lot**


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